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Stock exchange rates in Moscow (archive image)
Photo: Mikhail Tereshchenko / ITAR-TASS / IMAGO
The Moscow Stock Exchange resumed trading on Thursday after almost a month's pause due to Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and Western sanctions against Russia.
However, shares in only 33 companies were allowed to be traded, including papers from the gas monopoly Gazprom, the oil company Lukoil and the state-owned airline Aeroflot.
The central bank had already announced this to the state agency TASS the day before.
The Moex Russia index recently rose by around ten percent.
The index recouped a small portion of the losses it had posted before trading was suspended.
However, investors cannot bet on falling prices as short selling is prohibited.
In addition, Russia's central bank had already banned securities dealers from selling Russian securities owned by foreigners in February.
The steps are intended to contain the consequences of the western sanctions against the country on the stock market and to avoid further turbulence.
Trading had been halted after the Moex Russia plummeted by nearly half shortly after Russia's February 24 attack on Ukraine.
Investors had tried to withdraw as much money as possible and bring it to safety.
Shares in Russian companies have since been removed from major global exchange-traded index funds.
US government: "No real market and no sustainable model"
According to a market expert, the Russian stock market crash may well attract some domestic buyers.
Perhaps they were doing so to brace themselves for the country's skyrocketing inflation, which is melting the value of cash.
The US government, however, described the resumption of trade as a "charade".
"This is not a real market and not a sustainable model, which only underscores Russia's isolation from the global financial system," Deputy National Security Advisor Daleep Singh said.
Russia has made it clear that it will use state funds to artificially support the shares of trading companies.
The United States and its allies would continue to take steps to isolate Russia from the international economic order.
bam/dpa
